Ruthie Palmer - LOG #99
LOG has given me a place where I can fully be myself. I am able to share my love of God without being laughed at for being religious. It has given me an outlet to grow as a person. I have met so many wonderful people at LOG which have helped me grow as a person. I've heard amazing stories from other people that have set an example for me of how I should live a more Christian life. Without community we can not fulfill God's mission for us. Before LOG I had jumped around many communities, but at LOG I found a home. Thank you to Terry and so many wonderful adults and teenagers I feel like I have discovered God for myself on a deeper level than I ever could have on my own.
LeeAndra Fouts – LOG #3
When I was in high school, LOG was the first time that I truly experienced the "horizontal" relationship of God's love flowing through others in the church vs. the "vertical" relationship of just God and me. LOG was the first place where I met other Christian teenagers who loved God and also loved *gasp* secular music and movies and other normal teenager things. LOG was the first place where I was able to see for myself that there was enough room and space in my life and heart for God AND the world. It's been more than 20 years *double gasp* since my first LOG weekend, and LOG is still a regular force in and part of my life. The relationships I made as a participant (shout-out to the OG friend Sarah! <3) and later as an adult advisor and even later as a Board member and President have sustained me through the darkest hardest (and the lightest easiest) parts of my life, reminded me that while certain ages and stages in my life have ended that love never does, and that the seeds God sows when you are 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 may not bloom until you are 20 or 25 or 30 but when they do -- watch out! <3 Love really is a circle. I'm so glad that my fellow LOGgers (stumps? branches?) are part of that circle for me.
Participant - LOG #104
LOG has helped me grow so much in my faith and in my friendships. I have experienced God’s love in so many different ways through LOG. It has helped me renew my relationship with God in a different way than before. I spend so much more time with God and in making my relationship with Him even stronger and deeper thanks to LOG. I have made so many meaningful friendships that I’m sure I will have for the rest of my life. I have experienced a different type of friendship with the people at LOG. A type of friendship that is built on a foundation of God’s love. These friendships go so much deeper than just surface level and I didn’t realize how badly I needed friends like that. Overall, I am just so blessed to have gotten to experience LOG and to see how much God and his agape love can change the people around me.
Dinah Gilbert – LOG #91
LOG was an important time of growth in my life, it helped me recognize that I had a calling and need to follow it, it helped me realize that I could talk in front of people even if I was testified of doing it, it gave me multiple life long connections and helped me continue to grow in my spiritual journey. I would recommend LOG to anyone I could simply because of the love and connection you get from going, at least in my experience. LOG will forever have a special place in my heart.
Erik Hetler
“pass the notebook please” *clap clap* LOG helped teach me what real Christian community is like, where we share our joys and sorrows in Christ and, through it all, come together to worship God.
Jennyfer (Schaefer) Balkema – LOG #2
What does LOG mean to me? LOG means friendships, loyal friendships that love through thick or thin. LOG means support. LOG means being able to share my Love of God with others. LOG is a huge piece of my continued relationship with God and I don't know that I would be where I am today without it. It is something I feel that I can always come back to because it is not just about the people on the weekends, it is about so much more, it is about the LOG community. I may have been part of LOG way back when (LOG #2) but it is still something that I think of every day. So many memories but I love the turn around skit and the singing - LOVE the singing! I am so thankful to Terry for being in my life and so thankful for the impact that LOG has had in my life!